The next time you run that stop sign and hear a siren click on behind you, the blue and red lights in your rear view mirror might look a bit different. But don’t let the bicycle helmet fool you, that ticket is going to sting just the same even if it comes from a police officer riding an e-bike instead of a motorcycle or police car.
We often hear about police departments going electric with fleets of new Teslas or other electric cars. But you might not realize that electric bicycles are actually becoming a common police vehicle in many departments around the US.
Lieutenant Bryan Zink of the CCSD police department in Las Vegas explained to local FOX5 that Class 3 electric bicycles reaching speeds of up to 28 mph (45 km/h) are useful when his officers need to zip across campus or keep up with cars during traffic stops.
“There are a lot of times you get that look like, ‘wait a minute, where’s your car? Where’s your motorcycle? Oh, no, I’m a bike cop. Pull over license registration, proof of insurance,’ explained Lieutenant Zink. “Just the same stop, just a different way of getting it done.”
His police department recently added a large fleet of e-bikes thanks to a grant from the State Board of Education with funding earmarked for school safety. The new electric bikes help officers patrol the area around the school more effectively, even pulling over car drivers that endanger students.
The Menlo Park Police Department’s officers employ Pedego electric bikes for patrol and have found the light and efficient EVs to be uniquely capable in many cases.
As the local Pedego dealer Jeff Scanlan explained:
Just last week, one of the patrol officers using our e-bike came into the store and shared a story of him catching a bike thief who had just stolen a bike from in front of the Walgreens on Santa Cruz. He said he would never have been able to catch him on a regular bike, and by the time the dispatch could have directed a patrol car to pursue the suspect, the suspect would have escaped.
The LAPD added a fleet of e-bikes to its patrol fleet several years ago, opting for German e-bike maker BULLS as the supplier.
“When LAPD needed an e-bike to help meet the demand of serving and protecting Los Angeles, we answered the call with the original Sentinel,” explained the company. “This groundbreaking technology allowed police and other first responders to answer calls more quickly with an expanded range up to 5 times greater than pedal bikes and often faster than cruisers too, especially in high traffic areas. The Sentinel also allowed officers to be more accessible to the community while also finding greater job satisfaction on the bike most of the day, without being completely gassed.”
More police stations are adding electric bicycles to their patrol fleets as a practical and efficient alternative to traditional police cars.
E-bikes offer several advantages, including enhanced mobility in congested urban areas where navigating narrow streets or crowded events is challenging for cars. They allow officers to quickly respond to incidents while maintaining a lower environmental impact.
Electric bicycles are also cost-effective, with lower maintenance and fuel costs compared to traditional vehicles, and provide the added benefit of improving community engagement by making officers more accessible and visible. These factors have helped make e-bikes an appealing solution for modern policing, especially in densely populated or environmentally conscious regions.
Electric motorcycles have also quickly grown in favor among police departments, offering higher speeds while retaining many of the same benefits of electric bicycles such as the lower operation costs and environmental benefits.
The Cleveland Division of Police recently added the locally produced electric motorcycle The District from LAND Moto to its fleet.
As CEO Scott Colosimo explained, “Our partnership with the Cleveland Division of Police symbolizes a future where technology and community come together for greater efficiency and effectiveness.”
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